Is there any sci-fi scenario in movies in which Earth has not been eradicated or irrevocably changed for the worst? We already had Tom Cruise gazing sadly around at a post-apocalyptic scenario in the Oblivion trailer and now we welcome Cruise’s brother in Xenu Will Smith to the party.
The trailer premiere of M. Night Shyamalan’s newest flick After Earth, starring Will Smith and son Jaden Smith, comes to us via The Film Stage and … my God, I do not care. I cannot even begin to explain how little this whole thing excites me. But here’s the plot, for what it’s worth:
One thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind’s new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige (Will Smith) returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai (Jaden Smith). When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai’s craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance.
Got it? Need anything else? Smith’s character’s name is ‘Cypher Raige’, guys! DO YOU GET IT?!
The trailer gives us very sonorous voice-over and some remarkably hokey looking CGI creatures. There’s also a sort of Avatar-like vibe that might be all right, if I were not highly suspicious that there is some kind of twist about three-quarters of the way through that will, like, make me think, man. I might have a little more faith if Shyamalan didn’t write it … but he did.
After Earth is not the first time that Shyamalan has grappled with proper sci-fi (no, I do not consider Signs to be anything but 100% dumbass, aliens or not). But that film happened to be The Last Airbender, which I think we would all prefer to forget. This film also has lines like ‘Fear is the thoughts you create.’ You mean, there are thoughts we don’t create? Stop putting thoughts in my head, Shyamalan!
Maybe I’m wrong, but you can decide for yourself when After Earth comes out June 7, 2013. Until then, check out the trailer below.
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